Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a method for reading a graphical indicator, an indicator structure applicable to the reading method and an electronic apparatus thereof, and more particularly, to a method for reading a graphical indicator which remains operable even when the whole graphical indicator is not completely captured in an indicator image, an indicator structure applicable to the reading method and an electronic apparatus thereof.
Description of Related Art
With the progress in printing techniques and electronic technologies, a technique of hiding graphical indicators in visible text information or graphic information has been widely applied in our daily life. FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating the graphical indicator coexisting with main information in the related art. Referring to FIG. 1A, a graphical indicator 102 is formed on an object surface 100. The graphical indicator 102 is composed of a plurality of graphical micro-units; the graphical micro-units are tiny and thus, visibly ignored easily or interpreted as a background by human eyes. The graphical indicator 102 and main information 104 (e.g., a text pattern “APPLE” illustrated in FIG. 1) are formed together by means of, for example, printing on the object surface 100, which may be paper, for example. The graphical indicator 102 is corresponding to indicator data and does not influence the human eyes on receiving the main information 104.
FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram illustrating the graphical indicators in the related art, in which a conventional pattern design includes a plurality of graphical indicators 102. Referring to FIG. 1B, one graphical indicator 102 (the region surrounded by a dashed line) is formed by a header area 112 and a content data area 114 according to a predetermined rule. To be detailed, the header area 112 of each of the graphical indicator 102 may facilitate in distinguishing the graphical indicators 102 from one another, and the content data area 114 carries different information by graphical micro-units 116. Generally, the graphical indicator 102 has to be read by a specific electronic system and transformed into digital data, so as to obtain additional information hidden therein. Take FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B for example, the electronic system captures an enlarged image of part of the object surface by an optical device, obtains the graphical indicator 102 from the enlarged image to transform it into the digital data and obtains the additional information corresponding to the digital data. In the related art, the electronic system has to be capable of interpreting the complete graphical indicator 102, so as to correctly obtain the additional information. However, in some circumstances (e.g., the optical device shifts), the electronic system becomes incapable of reading the complete graphical indicator 102 and therefore, cannot obtain the corresponding additional information. Thus, how to correctly obtain the additional information related to the aforementioned graphical indicator in case the graphical indicator is incompletely captured remains one of the issues to be solved by the technicians of the art.